JUDGE BACKS FILNER ON TOURISM PACT
WIN FOR FILNER ON TMD PACT

Judge: Mayor doesn’t have to sign tourism agreement

Mayor Bob Filner won a tentative victory Thursday in his legal battle over $30 million in annual spending for tourism marketing.

Superior Court Judge Timothy Taylor issued a preliminary ruling that says Filner does not have to sign a five-year agreement between the city and the Tourism Marketing District.

That agreement covers the TMD’s use of a 2 percent hotel room surcharge to promote the city, primarily through advertising campaigns.

The City Council approved the plan in November, but Filner has withheld his signature to put it into effect. He disagrees with how the TMD plans to spend the money and has released a counterproposal.

Most of the $30 million raised per year goes to the San Diego Tourism Authority, formerly known as the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau. The July-December 2012 collections have been dispersed. But without the new agreement in place, the authority has canceled an advertising campaign and issued layoff notices to most of its staff.

The TMD board, selected by member hotels, sued Filner last month to force him to sign the agreement, and Taylor will hold a hearing on that lawsuit today.

If the ruling stands, the tourism district could appeal, but that could mean months of delay and a continued cessation of advertising campaigns to lure visitors to San Diego.

The TMD argued that Filner is legally required to sign the agreement, but Filner said he retains the power to negotiate an agreement to his liking. The judge backed Filner’s position.

The ruling turned on the use of “an” instead of “the” in the council resolution.

“The Nov. 26, 2012, resolution authorized the mayor or his designee to ‘enter into an agreement’ with the TMD, the judge said. “It did not say ‘the TMD agreement’ or ‘the TMD agreement attached hereto.’ ”

In addition, Taylor said, the council resolution “ ‘authorized’ action; it did not ‘direct’ action.

“Plainly the 2012 resolution granted the mayor the discretion to determine the final form of agreement between the city and the TMD,” he added.

The judge noted that while former Mayor Jerry Sanders’ failure to sign the agreement has not been explained, “The inference is strong that he considered the matter discretionary.”

Filner said in a statement that he stands ready to negotiate a new agreement with the TMD.

“I believe that the TMD contract is flawed and could potentially cost taxpayers millions, so I refused to sign it,” he said. “It is now time to return to the negotiation table. ... I am prepared to work out a deal that is good for the taxpayers and the city.”

TMD Chairman Terry Brown, who heads Atlas Hotels, including the Town & Country Resort and Conference Center in Mission Valley, said the board was “disappointed” by the judge’s tentative ruling. But he pinned his hopes on a City Council vote, scheduled for Tuesday, that would reaffirm approval of the original agreement.

“It is important that the thousands of men and women who work in the tourism industry can continue to generate the hundreds of millions of dollars of economic benefit that visitors bring to our economy,” Brown said in a statement.